Bermuda's fat problem can be battled - expert
By Tim Smith
Bermuda may be the fourth fattest country on the planet with one in three young children now obese — but the Island's Health Promotions Coordinator insists there's room for optimism.
Jennifer Attride-Stirling says she believes Bermuda can become the world's first country to successfully reverse an alarming trend of soaring obesity figures.
She says local health campaigners have a better chance of getting their message across than their counterparts in other overweight countries because the Island is so small.
And while Dr. Attride-Stirling accepts changing people's attitudes on health remains a huge task, public feedback to the anti-obesity drive of the past two months has been positive.
"We feel optimistic, believe it or not," she told The Royal Gazette. "I know it can seem a strange thing, given the news.
"We are not alone. We are with the rest of the developed world. All developed countries are grappling with what to do about obesity. There isn't a single success country worldwide that I'm aware of at reversing the trend.
"Bermuda being so small makes it very manageable. We could be among the first, if not the first, country to actually crack the nut to show a reversal in the trend. Being small has very many advantages — for example, it's easier to get the message out to people."
Reacting to shocking obesity figures released this summer, Government launched a Healthy Weight Action Plan which proposed a range of initiatives including increasing tax on fatty snacks and cutting it on healthy foods, promoting healthy eating in schools and turning the City of Hamilton into a walking city.
Another measure was to strengthen ties with editors and reporters, a move which has prompted extensive media coverage of Bermuda's obesity problem.
Bermuda's size can also have it's drawbacks, however, with Dr. Attride-Stirling saying: "There are things we can't do. We can't control advertising. We can't influence the labelling in the same way as other countries, like the US, Canada or the UK."
According to a table released in the UK this summer, only the US, Scotland and Mexico have a higher obesity rate than Bermuda. Emphasising the gravity of the task on her hands, Dr. Attride-Stirling fears the true current picture could be even worse.
The recent Bermuda Health Survey — which showed 30 percent of five to ten-year-olds and 23 percent of adults are obese — is believed to be an underestimation, as it was a telephone study which relied on participants being honest about their weight and height.
Those fears were backed up by a series of recent health screenings at TCD, which showed 47 percent were obese, more than double the Bermuda Health Survey figure.
Of those obese people, a staggering 96 percent had not described themselves as obese when asked, prompting concerns about the way people think about their health. Bermuda Diabetes Association, which ran the TCD tests, plans to analyse the results with a psychologist.
Dr. Attride-Stirling says a more extensive survey is planned, in which a large proportion of people will undergo health screenings.
